Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft have already been sent back home from South Africa with harsher punishments from CA awaited today

A BCCI official said that Steven Smith and David Warner will not play in the IPL if they are banned by CA

What's the story?

The BCCI has already declared that both Steven Smith and David Warner will not allowed to be a part of the IPL 2018 if Cricket Australia bans them for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal during the Cape Town Test against South Africa. A BCCI official made the board's stance clear while speaking to CricketNext, when he said, “If the CA goes ahead and bans them, there is no way that the IPL franchises can accommodate them, just like Andre Russell had to skip the IPL after he was caught violating doping clauses. If CA says that they have decided to ban the two players, that is where it all ends for them as far as IPL 11 is concerned,” he said.

In case you didn't know..

Following public confessions of attempting to alter the condition of the ball by Smith and Cameron Bancroft, the first sanction arrived from the ICC in this regard, which ruled Smith out of the fourth Test at Johannesburg and docked his entire match fee. But Bancroft escaped with a 75% fine and three demerit points after being caught on camera trying to use sandpaper on one side of the ball, something which was informed to him by the 12th man Peter Handscomb, who had had discussions with coach Darren Lehmann over walkie-talkie when footage of Bancroft's offence was shown on the giant screen at Cape Town.

The heart of the matter

Yesterday, it was the turn of the CA CEO James Sutherland to announce their own punishments – including one for David Warner, who remains a part of the “leadership group” for Australia – with all three of Smith, Warner and Bancroft being sent back home while Lehmann was let off as Tim Paine was made Australia's Test captain.

Even before any word from Sutherland, Australia had flown in Matt Renshaw as a replacement, with Joe Burns and Glenn Maxwell joining him in the squad as well. However, harsher outcomes for the trio are awaited, with CA to decide on the same today.

What's next?

The final Test of Australia's tour to South Africa begins on March 30 while the 11th season of the IPL starts on April 7. Smith, now sacked as Australia's captain, was also chosen to lead his franchise Rajasthan Royals, who, ironically, were making a return to the tournament after two years for their own involvement in illegal activities. They have now replaced Smith as captain with Ajinkya Rahane to lead the side.

Author's Take

It is fair on part of the BCCI to disallow the participation of Smith and Warner from the IPL if CA bans them from all forms of cricket, which seems likely, with the probable period being said to be of a year. And with ball tampering being such a severe issue, it would require a huge amount of time before their reputation – and the reputation of Australian cricket – is restored.